Selling sport

It's grand final season and there's no escaping either of the two football codes that envelop a nation at this time of year: the NRL and the AFL.

Those big games are one thing, but there's also the ongoing battle between the codes themselves. A battle for live audience and TV rights, for sponsorship and fan loyalty.

It was so much simpler once: rugby league in NSW and Queensland, Aussie Rules for the rest. The lines are a little more blurred these days, and all games need to have some sort of national aspiration-its how the sporting marketplace works.